The present invention relates to a portable measuring instrument adapted to measure any one of a number of characteristics of moving yarn.
More specifically, it is of great importance to monitor yarn being utilized by a knitting machine for the purpose of determining, at any time, a number of characteristics of such moving yarn as, for example, the linear rate at which said yarn is moving, the amount of yarn consumed per revolution of the circular knitting machine utilizing such yarn, and the tension of the moving yarn. These and other characteristics of moving yarn are valuable for the purpose of determining whether the knitting machine is operating satisfactorily as well as for the purpose of making appropriate adjustments in the operation of the knitting machine in order to produce more uniformly knit goods.
Instruments providing these measurements are well known in the art and usually include an operative element such as a rotatable drum or ring about which the yarn is wrapped so that the operative element is rotated by the moving yarn. By means of conventional electronic circuitry, the rotation of the operative element is converted into the desired characteristic of the yarn.
The main problem encountered in presently used yarn measuring instruments is that of capturing the moving yarn and wrapping it about the operative element. More specifically, in existing yarn measuring instruments, the operative element (rotatable drum or wheel) is located in the forwardmost portion of the measuring instrument requiring the operator to directly place such operative element in engagement with the moving element. Such operation requires skill on the part of the operator who must gain access to the yarn and maintain frictional engagement of the yarn with the operative element. As a result, such existing prior art instruments are fairly cumbersome and far less than satisfactory.